Hospitality Begins at Home

A couple of years ago I wrote a post about how to make your family feel welcome at home. That post has been one of the most viewed posts on my blog. I think it resonates with people because we all want to feel welcome in our homes, and we want to make our home a comfortable place for our families.

Making sure our family feels welcome at home is one aspect of hospitality. I used to think hospitality was all about opening up your home to others and entertaining them. However, I have learned that hospitality is more of an attitude. It is making people feel welcome whether it is in your home or some other place where people are gathering.

Another aspect of hospitality is ministering to those who have a need. This could look like taking a meal to a family who has had a recent death, loss of job, or on a happier note, had a new baby. Hospitality is being available to minister when called upon.

Today I want to offer some tips on how we can minister to our families. After all, hospitality begins at home. If we can learn to minister to our own family, then we are better equipped to minister to others in need.

Mealtimes
Make mealtimes special for your family. Even though we live in such a busy society, I encourage you to try to eat together as a family at least 3 to 4 times a week. Mealtime doesn’t have to be elaborate. You can make mealtime special just by letting each family member know how much you are thankful for them.

Use mealtime to catch up on each other’s day. Give everyone an opportunity to share what they like about the day as well as what was not so fun. Share prayer requests and have your family pray together for these requests. This is a great way for your family to draw closer.

Try having a theme night. Maybe you can do this once a week or just once a month, but the idea is to get everyone excited about the special theme night. You can have a game night, Mexican night, movie night, scrapbook night or book night. Plan your food according to your theme. Put up decorations to make the mood more festive. Your family will love that you’ve taken the time to help them have fun.

Around the House

Celebrate successes and special occasions. When your child has done exceptionally well at school, have a small celebration and present her with flowers to show her how proud you are. For birthdays, go all out and decorate with balloons and make sure you have a cake. Celebrate as a family what God is doing in your lives.

Write encouraging notes to each other. Leave notes in lunch boxes and briefcases to let your family know how much you love them. They will be pleasantly surprised to find them throughout the day.

Create a wall of faith. Hang pictures or framed Bible verses that show how God has been at work in your family’s life. You might even have other memorabilia that could be put in shadow boxes. Use this as a conversation piece when you have company over. It’s a great way to share your testimony.

Our family should come first when we think about hospitality. Try some of these ideas to show your family how much you care about them. I’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions as well.